How to Speak Cockney / Practice English with Paul

How to Speak Cockney
A lot of interesting posts by me:
id290352757
01:08 non-rhotic R
01:43 trap-bath-split
02:05 glottal stop
03:02 the L vocalization
04:03 TH becomes V
04:27 H is dropped
04:55 TH fronting
05:34 Practice/Examples
kzbin.info?video_id=...

[Just Miriam]

Hi, I'm Scottish and learning a cockney accent for my production in my acting course. Thank you so much! This helped me a lot.

[Practice English with Paul]

Just Miriam no worries) and best of luck with your production)

[AJAX Don Queso]

As a budding student of accents and quirks of the English language, this is gold. If you haven’t already, I’d love to see more on the Cockney accent from a native Cockney speaker. Most videos are done by someone who isn’t even from the region. You’re a native speaker, if you will, and you break it down so easily. Thank you!

[t3hp0larbear]

As I try to get through the practice phrases, I realize that there are few things that I as a New Englander tend to do with my own speech patterns that cockney also does. Namely, the non-rhotic R's and the vowely L's. Though my T sounds tend to get softened to a D or dropped altogether, but without the full glottal stop that cockney does.

[Linda Sellers]

Thank you! That was very informative. I'm new to acting and I've got a bit part in a community theater and I'd like to get it right. I think you've covered almost all my parts!

[Allen Logue]

'ello Pau. Fanks for da lesson. Seriously well done mate. As an American voice actor, honing cockney skills is a serious undertaking that most of my collegues won't even attempt (if they try anything "British", they often settle for Posh and don't go further). Your lesson provides excellent practical examples that I've now played a dozen times. Please do the vid on rhyming slang. That's another degree of complexity not easily understood or mastered for non-Cockney speakers.

[Practice English with Paul]

Oh I am glad it was useful)) Great idea on the Rhyming Slang. I will do that vid tomorrow and it will be up this week) Awesome idea)

[Janus]

Fyi matey. We Cockneys actually pronounce the L in Paul. Let's ave it right!

[Paul Espinoza]

Fantastic video! Major fan of the accent and always enjoy entertaining others with accents. This video def was informative and helpful! Thanks from one Paul to another!

[Glauco Andreoti]

Very good explanation Paul! Synthetic and precise (now I could say this comment in cockney accent as well!)

[Chemla]

Hi professor Thank you so much for your priceless advice and interesting guidance. I love your way of teaching and excellent explication. I really appreciate your job. I wish you peace and happiness under the sky of prosperity. Your Student from Algeria.

[Peter Sombooncharoen]

I used to live in London and fascinated with Cockney accent but didn't have chance to learn further. Your lesson on KZbin has helped a lot. Thank you.

[TatianaG🥰]

Hi Paul, thank you for the lesson. It's amazing and incredibly interesting. There's a striking difference between standard English and Cockney. I can say for sure it'll be much easier to understand it, especially in listening parts of exams because there's no possibility to ask to repeat in case it's not clear for a non-native listener. Seems that we don't have anything like this in Russia.

[Practice English with Paul]

+snowdropick You're welcome :) I think English learners really underestimate the variety of accents we have in the English speaking world :) Funnily enough, many audio CDs try to put on an accent... usually very badly :))))

[Geoff Tonkin]

I love it. Having been born and bred in south London, or Saaf as I would say in the past, this is just brilliant. I'm developing a career in voiceovers, so I'm just about to put a bit of a Cockney demo on my website. Thanks so much for this.

[Practice English with Paul]

Geoff Tonkin thanks for the comment and you made me smile so much saying saaaf))) Awesome)

[Giancarlo Puglisi]

Hello Mr Paul. I am planning to move to London as soon as possible, in order to improve my poor English. As a dyslexic I find very difficult to write down an essay, a report and so on, without making terrible mistakes. I feel that with a teacher like you I would be able to become a native speaker! Would you mind telling me if you teach in a school for foreigners who want to learn English?

[DrSoft DrSoft]

Спасибо. Очень познавательно! Качественный урок. Thank you for the great lesson. Excellent. This year on vacation I talked with a great guy from Britain. He spoke in pure Cockney. Now I can go through all the circles of hell and torture. Because the most terrible torment is over.

[Maria Eduarda Santana]

Hi Paul! Thanks for the lesson, I am Brazilian, and since a baby, I study English, but I came here bcs, I want to learn very hard the Cockney Accent, and your lesson really helped, and yes, I would luv more examples!😁😁😁😁😁

[Caroline Brunskill]

I moved to New Zealand at 16 from London, my speech was constantly corrected. I now live in Australia and they don’t mind how you speak and I’ve found my accent returning :)

[FALE INGLÊS AGORA! Prof. Aparecido]

Wow, dude! That's just great !! I'm from Brazil and I've been teaching American accent for 45 years. Now I came across a very interesting matter! Now I'm aware of what's inside this accent! Thanks for sharing!

[Gino Funes]

I simply LOVE your accent! Music for my ears... besides you're amazing teaching! Very educational video... Although I've seen lots about cockney, this is one of the best! Very glad to having known you. Cheers from Argentina Sir.

[Practice English with Paul]

+Gino Funes Your comment means a lot to me :) Thank you so much :) And my warmest greetings to you and Argentina :)

[James Dougherty]

I love it. Can you share more of the cockney accent with those of us in the states.

[César Dias]

Hey, Paul... Many thanks for such a great video. Very helpful! I'm Brazilian. British accent (I mean any of those) is awesome.

[Unexpected]

Interesting, it seems to me that number 4 is the way many Brazilians would normally pronounce that kind of L when speaking English!

[frepi]

I am french Canadian and for me too, the "h" is hard to pronounce in English. Not because it is difficult, but because in French, the "h" has no sound, it is simply ignored most of the time. So I don't have this reflex to pronounce it when I speak English.

[Exspectans]

Thank for this useful video. I've heard that accent when i've spoken with many english and thanks to your explation i can now understand it. I think that this is very caracteristic of UK and sounds well english.

[slycordinator]

I'm also teaching English abroad (in Korea). There's irony that some of my friends from Britain have, at times, made fun of the fact that we Americans often write "alright" instead of "all right", and now I've finally seen a Brit use it this way. Although, I thought it was silly since Brits never think words like (the aforementioned) "although" or "altogether" to be mistakes and they're formed the same way. :)

[Ninjai71]

Greetings from germany. I do love the different english accents so much and espacially cockney is my favorite :) What do you think about the cockney accent spoken by the character Alfie Solomon in Peaky Blinders? I'm a big Tom Hardy fan, and with that performance in that show he blewed me away :)

[Aiden Mateen]

this was really fun to watch and very neatly done, good job!!!

[StayPolishThinkEnglish]

This is awesome! Thank you simplifying this!

[Practice English with Paul]

macdz no problem)

[Busdriver42]

Thanks Paul. The Cockney accent is so colourful. Accents are kind of a hobby of mine. Great video!

[Erin Chester]

Thanks. I am auditioning for a part in a play that has a cockney accent and this was very helpful.

[Thar Tettoe]

I am always fascinated by the way Eliza Dolittle speak and I love Cockney English. Thanks so much dear Teacher Paul for teaching us through this video. I love it.

[Practice English with Paul]

Thar Tettoe thank you so much))

[Games and Films with Todd]

Thanks for this video, im struggling learning this for my voice class for my Theatre Major, this was a good lesson.

[Kristo Bonjaku]

I would give everything for having a teacher like you Paul.

[Marilyn Rockstroh]

Yes, the practice sentences were extremely helpful. thank you!

[Practice English with Paul]

Marilyn Rockstroh thanks for your kind words) i'm glad to know my stuff helped)

[M Fiorito]

I love this because it confirms all 7 above that I've heard and guessed at! Though I do have a question - I heard a recording of King George VI, and hear what is either an accent or other besides the expected stutter. The "r" sound near the beginning of a word would become "w," and I am not mistaking it with the "l - vocalization." If this is true, was this common among royalty? Any thoughts?

[theboyfromxtown]

When someone talks like that, we refer to them as having a lisp, sort of meaning they can't do the "r" sound. It's not common but it exists. Royalty never talk cockney, they speak what is called the Queen's English.

[Илья Барсуков]

That's a great guide! Thank you very much! I always dreamed about being able to speak Cockney!

[Practice English with Paul]

You'll blend into the London world easily))))

[moona Akram]

A.O.A!I am from Pakistan and really this video is very nice and this video cleared many things.I learnt cockney many times from different websites but this video really helped me.Thank you

[jon herston]

the best lesson ever, thanks for our incredible teacher!

[Robbie Wales]

Hi Paul, I was asked to do a publican in a theatre production once. I chose to do a Cockney accent and the audience loved it. I remember as quoted by saying, "oi!! Who let that geezer in? He's caused nothing but Barney Rubble the last time time he was in."

[shadyspades]

I would love to see the rhyming slang video! Please make it! :)

[axeltech 99]

thank you so much for that ，you even wrote the main points at the board !👍

[Practice English with Paul]

axel blaze thanks mate) students should always have written examples))

[axeltech 99]

welcome

[Markus Weigl]

Germans love this cockney variant of th: Saves us from having to train the correct lip position for th, which does not exist in German and which drives every German-speaking beginner to despair. 😀

[Abu-Aley]

Thanks Paul, A have got some few remarks: 1. I guess it should have been mentioned that the "H" to be dropped ONLY if it is in the beginning. 2. The "th" has two ways to be pronounced, either as "F" or "V", but again I guess it was required to mention that it turns to "F" with the UNVOICED "TH" and with the VOICED "TH" to be turned to "V". In addition, it would be nice to be mentioned that in Cockney "MY" is pronounced and written as "ME" Example: Me father , me trouble and strife ... etc, One more thing was to be mentioned is the double negatives in one sentence. Example: I ain't got no enough dosh. Regards, Ahmad,

[Maygan Phynix]

I am learning Cockney now and this was very helpful! I cant Adam and Eve it, but I'm getting much better at it. love from the States! ❤

[jackofswords7]

Ye'll be bet'er orf watchin' Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels.

[Amir Jamal Belal]

Thank you a lot mate . But can you please , explain the difference between cockney and proper London accent ?

[Muhammad Ismael]

well-done Paul. Many thanks to you.

[ynotpresley]

Amazing teacher and a lovely personality. More lighting and better sound quality with a mic, good head positioning in the camera frame, and your videos will stand out

[Æthelsige]

Please make more videos for Cockney accent, phrase or something about it. I love this accent so much.

[EgoManic]

I'd been struggling to properly write dialogue in a Cockney accent and this helped a lot.

[john adams]

Let me know what you have difficulty with.

[Juliana]

I’m working on a show right now and I’m have to learn Cockney! I’m really having trouble on saying girl but I’m Working on it. Thanks a lot Paul!

[conishkee]

Good gosh, this was so informative and I absolutely LOVE the accent; always have!!

[Ade Ezra Hutagalung]

My favorite Cockney is Amy Winehouse.Thanks for the video. You have incredible way of teaching. I'm laughing as I try to imitate 😆

[jake gong]

Very interesting And this is a very effective way to learn how do you speak cockney English

[Cockney Rebel]

I tend to glottalize double 'Ps' in words such as 'kippers' and 'slippers', and I often pronounce 'K' and 'CK' sounds, in words such as 'drinking', more like a glottal 'T' than a 'K'- ('dring-in'). I had a mate back home, called 'Jackie', who done the same with the 'CK' in her name.

[Hruaia Tlau]

Thank you paul,for giving me english improvement. God bless you.

[MsA Lopez Bard]

Your explanation is the best I've ever heard.

[Jim]

Thanks for making this... I'm an American who is having fun a I sstart to learn your accent of origin. I have an observation and question: You mentioned "this" under #7, but I think _(fink)_ it belongs under #5. It's just like the _th_ in _father._ So, wouldn't it be _fis_ (or _dis)?_ (And wouldn't "this thing" be _vis fing...)_

[Tariq Aziz]

I have learned Cockney accent and really enjoyed watching this video. Thumb up for you all videos.

[Nikolai Kuznetsov]

Hello, thanks for the lesson! I have a question: does the consonant "t" gets glotal ONLY between vowels? And how should one pronounce it if there's only one vowel in front or behind l, or the "t" is between two words? (For example: I went to...) Thank you!

[S R]

It gets glottal between words and at the end of a word - "I got a lot of cats indoors" can be pronounced with all the t s as a glottal stop. T at the beginning of a word is always pronounced. T at the beginning of a syllable e.g. "Interesting" or "internet" can go either way as long as the syllable is not emphasised. If the syllable is emphasised eg "interred" then it must be pronounced as t. The phrase "tit for tat" (cockney rhyming slang for hat) sees only the two initial t's pronounced, the two t's at the end are glottalised.

[theboyfromxtown]

r wen to say it quick...

[rachel.h_1]

Thank you so much! This really helped!

[Alexander Agudelo]

Wow, this is completely new for me. Thank you for that great video.

[yogajaxx]

I'm a Londoner. Another tip with a Cockney accent is that "ou" (ow) sometimes turns into "ah" or "aah" e.g. about is ab-aaht; round is r-aand; shout is sh-aht (glottal t if there's a t after the ou). Also a note on 'girl' in Paul's first example. A Cockney wouldn't pronounce it as correctly as Paul does. It's more like 'gew', with the e sound as in gel or bell and the l on the end closer to a w. However, if you're not a Cockney, trying to say this could sound very strange. That's probably why Paul left it out!

[Rig4ton3]

Very useful lesson, thank you! As in italian working in UK, it is quite hard to understand some local accents. Never hit the subscribe button so fast 🤣

[Safaa Sabra]

Italien accent is also hard.

[SUMEDHA MM]

Interesting. Love your lesson!

[Bakhtawar Asim]

Very nice , I would love to learn cockney accent, thank you paul

[skylimitua]

The best video on the topic, more practice sentences!

[Adair José Cassimiro]

For me the Ths like Fs, Vs and Ds and the Ls like Ws make English easier to pronounce.

[Mohit Mohanty]

Brillant work mate!! Much appriciate it!! cheers!

[Sami Abe]

Why isn't the word "can" not affected by the trap-bath split in numbers 1 and 3? Like why doesn't it sound like the "coun" in "country"? Thanks for this video!

[Juan Fernando Carabali Carvajal]

HELLO PAUL I'm From Colombia I like so much British Accent thank you Paul this is an excellent video to improve accent! I liked it!

[Practice English with Paul]

I'm really glad! Thanks a lot!

[Juan Fernando Carabali Carvajal]

@Practice English with Paul it's my pleasure! I'm gonna continue watching your videos.

[David Silva]

I think that there is a fish on my ear!!!! I really love this subject! Thanks a lot my buddy! I had written a paper about the glottal stop, and I have to talk about the cockney accent. I think that your video may help me... thanks a lot!

[Practice English with Paul]

+David Silva thank you for the compliment , it's very kind of you. I would be very interested in your paper.

[Redone Lobo]

Hey mate ! Could you please show me the way wrote those gottals. Cause I wanna practice it

[Robby Walker rain]

Duration 5:13 ( pake " f") dan 5: 16 (pake " d ". Word from Indonesian langguage.

[omid afg]

that was interesting. could you please make more examples

[Cockney Rebel]

Words with 'ou' in 'em can also be pronounced with more of an 'ah' sound, so 'down' would sound like a more drawn-out version of the name, 'Dan'- ('daan'), 'town' would sound like a more exaggerated version of 'tan'- ('taan'), 'south' would become 'saaf', 'house' would become 'aahse'- (like a more exaggerated version of 'ass'), and 'about' would become 'abaah''.

[Saeed Baloch]

I reckon you're an impeccable teacher lovely way to illustrate

[John Livingstone]

Brilliant, well said. As I'm also a cockney I'd just like to say that we pronounce girl as gil.

[Haitham Malkawi]

I started learning cockney for a month And I'm doing quite good

[Alessandra Oré]

Your video it's very nice, could you do more like this?

[Healthy Criticism]

english is my second language but i grew up using the number 3 method myself (the T) and i sometimes do the t-fronting

[Practice English with Paul]

+Anal Devastator I love your username ))))) Awesome :))) if you can make those sounds and English is your second language then you are already doing so well :)

[Healthy Criticism]

Practice English with Paul haha yeah but like you said once i get very drunk my accent inherits those cockney features heavily

[Aviator21]

I read the t fronting in your comment as soon as Paul said it

[Laercio Civali]

Nice explanation, thanks!

[Eric Bolton]

New Englanders in the US use the non-rhotic r also. We don't park, we "pahk". It's slightly different, but not by much lol.

[paxsmile]

I just adore this accent! Thank you for the tips!

[Dani]

I love the Cockney T sound so much. It's super cool.

[Yaser Syria]

MORE EXAMPLES PLEASE!

[Hassan Nono]

Nice video. What about if the T becomes the first letter in the word .like tell, table etc

[erf]

thank you paul this was life changing

[theboyfromxtown]

I'm a cockney and I just laughed at this video because I didn't realise I was talking like that. But to be fair, I think we only talk like that when we are in the company of fellow cockneys..or. like you, when we've a had a few too many!

[Phil]

Thank you very much for your videos! I Appreciate that!

[Abtihal Saed]

Wow this accent is actually awesome i truly love it 😍

[Giacomo Bongrazio]

Awesome! Thanks Paul!

[Sebastián Oscar Campanello]

I wish my Phonetics teachers were a bit more like you, but they ain't. In Argentina (which is where I'm from) the majority of teachers want their students to speak RP and make them repeat sentences like: "the proof of the pudding is in the eating" and many other old-fashioned expressions that are no longer uttered in UK. There's a reason for this, they say: in order to be understood while we speak, we the students should stick to RP accent, because it's standard English. Or at least it was standard.

[Practice English with Paul]

Sebastián Oscar Campanello it is a difficult one. RP is spoken by a selected few. I think learners should start off with RP just to get the basics right but also get introduced to the varieties of English.

[Mamun Mokni]

very helpful thanks so much !!

[Katori Chaz?]

Great video! I'm just trying to turn the corner on understanding the various accents of the UK, as an American, so I don't look like a "total" idiot when I visit. I'm trying to be like just 80-90% idiot...

[Debs most excellent adventures]

My dad used to speak cockney to me every day,this made me laugh debs xx

[João Lima]

Hi Paul I'm Brazilian And I'm learning British English Because I Think more beautiful than american english. Hugs From Brazil!

[Practice English with Paul]

João Mattos_BR and you are awesome my friend)

[MikeJawn Fishing]

I am trying to learn Portuguese Portuguese, because I think it is more beautiful than Brazilian Portuguese.

[Juan Fernando Carabali Carvajal]

@MikeJawn Fishing I can speak Portuguese also, I've been practiced European Portuguese, and it sounds faster than Brazilian Portuguese. Likewise it's beatiful language.

[haley church]

rule number one when perfecting an accent get drunk, rule number two repeat rule number one.

[Mircea Stefan]

Pronouncing you the word "better" first with the /ə/ sound and after with the /ɑː/ sound, could we possibly say that you used both the Standard and Cockney way of the schwa sound pronunciation? In others words, are there two ways of the schwa sound pronunciation: the Standard one and the Cockney one?

[Storm the F1b Pomsky Pup]

I grew up in the East End and speak cockney. I found this so funny.

[Joel Masamba]

Yes, I'aint gonna speak American English anymore, I'll just speak London English cos it's great, the way it's sounds i got happy 😁😁😁😁😁😁

[Eliane Cordeiro Mattoso]

Marvelous teacher!

[Robin Shaan Official]

Thank you so much, sir!

[DrunkenFish]

Bloody brilliant! Thank you sir. I'm subbed!

[Practice English with Paul]

Rahmstation thanks mate)

[DrunkenFish]

Practice English with Paul Years ago I thought to visit London. I wish I had. I wouldn't dare now. Too much has changed...

[Practice English with Paul]

Rahmstation yeah i am popping back next week to get a new visa. I feel weird in my own city nowadays. ((

[Makayla Mainini]

Awesome! CAn you give us a few lines from Oliver in cockney. My girl (13 years)l is auditioning to be Nancy. Thanks